Device for a continuous shaping of superposed sheets of a packing material



wlan. 28, 1958 L. cLEMENs 25821383 DEVICE FOR A CONTINUOUS-.SHAPING OFSUPERPOSED SHEETS OF A PACKING MATERIAL Filed may 18, 1954 2-sneets-snee: 1

Invezz for f L. CLEMENS Jan. 28, 1958 2,821,383 DEVICE FOR A CONTINUOUSSHAPING oF sUPERPosED SHEETS OF A PACKING MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed May 18, 1954 l1W/////////'/////////'///////"`Vv lalllfll UnitedStates Patent NC) DEVICE FOR A CONTINUOUS SHAPING F SUPERPOSED SHEETS OFA PACKING MATERIAL Ludwig Clemens, Wiesbaden, Germany Application May18, 1954, Serial No. 430,627

Claims priority, application Germany, May 23, 19.53 3 Claims. (Cl.270-52) This invention relates to a machine for the current treatment ofsuperposed layers of packing materials, such as particularly undulatedcardboard sheets.

The invention denotes .an essential improvement of this type of machineswhereby the treatment of the packing material is simplified and thecosts of manufacture are reduced. The materials to be treated inconformity with the invention are mainly packing paper, cardboard andparticularly corrugated cardboard sheets.

Corrugated cardboard is generally available as a long at body or sheet,which may have a width of 100 centimeters and is woundinto rolls. Theserollsmust be unwound for use and cut into parts of a suitable size. Itis apparent that this treatment of the undulated cardboard is expensive;therefore many endeavors have been made to price-reduce the conversionof the corrugated cardboard rolls into properly usable at shapes.

lt is the main object of the invention to eliminate the difficultiesarising from the conversion of the longitudinal cardboard packages intoshorter bodies.

With this purpose in View, the adjacently located pack-l ages are turnedor rotated at an angle of 90 degrees about their longitudinal axis andthe thus obtained now vertical packages are converted into a singlevertical body; this procedure enables the easy conversion of thehorizontal packages into a vertical single package whichy can be easilybundled, packed and-conducted into a transverse cutter, which cuts thebody into parts-of a desired length.

IiThe mainfeature of the-invention is the `abovereferredtoxro'tationof.theindividual packagesfat an angle of 90 degreesabout their longitudinal axes.

A further object of the invention is the means to carry out thisrotation, while care is being taken of the fact that the strip-shapedpackages leaving the longitudinal cutter may differ with regard to theirheight and number.

In order to comply with these conditions a series of adjacent guidemeans, such as pins or rollers and crosssize extending relative to thelongitudinal extension of the packages is provided which after therotation of the packages guide and secure the same; the guide means havea mutually variable distance. This variable distance of the packageconducting pin is necessary in View of the possibility of the ditferentthickness of the stripshaped packages.

Moreover, it is essential to render the pins for the guidance of theindividual packages during rotation individually variable in order toadjust the operation of the pins to the number of the packages. Themutual distance of the guide rollers, guide pins and similar guide meansmay be controlled by a common adjusting device, such as a lazy tongs.

The invention will now be described more in detail and with reference tothe attached drawings.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a strip-shaped cardboard package composed of aplurality of superposed corrugated Patented Jan. 28, 1958 cardboardsheets during its rotation at degrees from the horizontal into thevertical position;

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of the devicefor use in the rotation ofthe packages and their union into a single body;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a further embodiment of thedevice for therotation of the packages; and

Fig. 5 is a top view of the device shown in Fig. 4.

Numeral 1 denotes onesidely covered corrugated superposed cardboardsheets which by a suitable, for instance, a longitudinal cutter are cutin parallel adjacent strip-shaped packages 2, see Fig. 3. Thesestrip-shaped adjacent packages 2 are conducted by means of transportbands 3, 3 to a guiding device adapted to turn the packages about theirlongitudinal axis, this device consisting of a row of rollers 5 locatedat a mutual distance upon a table 4, the individual cardboard packages 2being turned by said guiding device 5 at an angle of 90 degrees.

The rotated strip-shaped packages 2 are now conducted in an uprightvertical position between a pair of laterally disposed verticaltransport bands 6, 6 located in pressure contact with said packages 2,whereby the same are assembled into a single uniform unit 21, Therollers 5 are in conformity with the thickness, width and number of thestrip-shaped packages 2 adjustably located upon the table 4.

In order to secure the uniform progress of the torsional movement of thepackages a height-adjustable guiding device is provided in front of thepins 5, said guiding device being adaptable to the height and width ofthe strip-shaped packages; the device consists of lateral vertical guiderollers 8, 8' and horizontal rollers 9, 9 which are supported on table 7located upon a screw spindle 10; these rollers may be lifted and loweredby a handwheel 11 in order to move the horizontal middle axis of the atstrip-shaped packages into equal height with the center axis of thepackages which are placed on-end.

Figures v4 'and 5 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention.

. A tablei'12 is provided for cooperation with the transport bands 3,-3. The lateral guide rollers 8, 8 are adjustably supported in'slots 1 2'ina cross direction tothe passage of the cardboard 2. The horizontalguide rollers 9, 9 are carried by supports 13, the latter projectingthrough recesses of the table and adapted to be lifted and lowered by ascrew spindle 14 and hand-wheel 15. For an adaption to the thickness ofthe packages 2 the upper roller 9 is by means of the screw spindle 15adjustable in bearing bracket 13.

The rotated and now vertical cardboard packages 2 are conducted alongpins 5', which are supported by a lazy tongs 17. This lazy tongs islocated in a recess 12 of the table and is covered by a plate 18, whichis provided with a slot 18 for the passage of the pin 5.

The distance between the pins 5 may be adjusted by a wing screw 20located upon screw spindle 19.

In order to secure the lazy tongs 17 upon the table in a centralposition the center pin 5 is downwardly elongated and secured by thescrew 21, whereby the lazy tongs 17 may be uniformly elongated orshortened towards both sides of the table.

With the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 theheight adjustment of the table may be eiected by a Vertical displacementtogether with that of the guide pins.

The practical application of the invention is extremely simple.

At the start of the device the strip-shaped packages 2 composed of theindividual corrugated superposed cardboard layers 1 are conductedthrough the various above described guiding means and at the same timerotated through an angle of 90 degrees. If the thus rotated stripshapedpackages 2 have passed the various guide means they are assembled ontable 4 by the transport bands 6, 6', whereby a united or singlevertical cardboard package 21 results.

In order to yachieve a friction-free rotation of the packages 2 at apossibly low energy consumption, the conducting of the packages shouldbe performed in such a manner that the center axis of each package afterrotation has about the same location as before. The observance of thisprinciple is particularly important in view of the fact that the heightand the width of the individual packages 2 upon leaving the machine maybe different. If, for instance, only a few layers of corrugatedcardboard are simultaneously entered into the longitudinal cutter andsevered by the latter into four individual packages, four comparativelywide but thin packages leave the longitudinal cutter. Upon the rotation,however, the packages vertically extend for a considerable height, sincethe height of the turned or rotated packages is equal to their width.If, however, a large number of superposed cardboard layers is cut into agreat number of packages their height prior to the rotation is greaterthan their width. Upon rotation the situation is reversed and the widthof the packages is greater than their height.

This situation must be considered when constructing the guiding means.

Since these guide means are generally placed upon a table, care must betaken that during rotation disturbances caused by the table are avoided.

If a thin but wide package which is closely conducted on the table, isto be turned or rotated at 90 degrees, this rotation can only beperformed after slightly lifting the package from the table. Aspreviously mentioned the rotation should be so controlled that thecenter axis of the packages after the rotation has about the sameposition as before; in other words, the center axis of the package musthave prior to the rotation the same height above the table as after therotation. As a general rule the transport of the packages should be socontrolled that their center axes prior to rotation have the same heightabove the table as after rotation for 90 degrees. This object may bereached, as before stated, by conducting the packages prior to rotationthrough guide means such as pins 5, which are vertically adjustablerelative to the common plane of the adjacent packages and which by theiradjustment displace the center axes of the packages in the samedirection.

With this purpose in view the packages prior to rotation may beconducted through rollers 8, 8 which are common to all packages, theaxes of these rollers being parallel and vertically displaceable to thecommon plane of the packages and to the plane of the working table.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative land not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tobe secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. In a device for the continuous converting of strip shapedside-by-side packages vertically superposed into a single stackcontaining 'all of the strips by guiding and turning each of thepackages degrees about their longitudinal axes While advancing them andbringing each rotated package into a common plane, means operable forguiding 'and rotating the packages comprising a series of guide rollerslocated along a line extending transversely across the advance directionof said packages, the distance between said rollers being adjustable inconformity with the width and thickness of said packages to conduct thesame individually upon their rotation, and a pair of verticallysuperposed transport bands located in pressure contact with saidpackages to hold the same together.

2. In a device according to claim 1, commonly adjustable means tosimultaneously vary the mutual distance between said guide rollers.

3. In a device according to claim 1, a pair of horizontal guide rollerslocated in advance of the place of rotation of said packages in asuperposed position on top of and below said adjacent packages the axesof said two rollers being displaceable parallel to each other andperpendicular to a common plane of said packages.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 846,716Ashlem Mar. 12, 1907 1,887,976 Jensen Nov. 15, 1932 2,373,500 PearceApr. 10, 1945 2,445,703 Williams July 20, 1948 2,475,789 Kunz July 12,1949

